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The Washington Post has been forced to issue a pair of major corrections to reports criticizing Christopher Rufo in the last two years, as the paper can’t seem to get facts straight about the prominent critical race theory (CRT) opponent.
"Democracy dies when the media lies," Rufo tweeted, mocking the Post’s "Democracy Dies in Darkness" slogan.
Rufo, who is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and outspoken opponent of CRT being taught in schools, on Sunday called out Washington Post reporter Valerie Strauss for her article titled, "DeSantis moves to turn a progressive Fla. college into a conservative one." Rufo tweeted that Strauss is a "hack" who made several "distortions" and "flat-out lies" about his work.
CHRIS RUFO SCORCHES THE WASHINGTON POST FOR ITS LATEST CRT 'LIES,' PAPER FORCED TO ISSUE CORRECTION
Christopher F. Rufo is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. (Fox News)
Rufo criticized the report in a series of tweets, in which he promised to "debunk" falsehoods one by one. He accused Jeff Bezos’ paper of falsely claiming critic race theory isn’t taught in schools, putting words in his mouth only to report them "as if they were fact," lying about former-President Trump’s anti-CRT executive order, fabricating the timeline of events on his work with Trump and misleading readers about his work with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"I have reached out to the editors at the paper requesting corrections to these errors. I believe that WaPo subscriptions have plummeted in recent years because the public is tired of the paper's sloppiness, inaccuracies, and falsehoods. Democracy dies when the media lies," Rufo wrote.
Rufo later tweeted an email he received from the paper’s executive editor, Adam Kushner, in which he admitted four of the complaints "had merit" upon review. The Post eventually issued a lengthy correction and "made changes" to the text of the report.
The Washington Post has been forced issued a pair of corrections to reports about Christopher Rufo. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo)
"A previous version of this story called Christopher Rufo a Republican activist who denies the existence of systemic racism. He is a conservative activist who has said American law is not currently discriminating against racial minorities. The story also clarifies language about diversity trainings used by the federal government and businesses in Florida, which were not technically forbidden but were broadly restricted in what they could say about systemic racism," the correction stated.
Rufo pointed out the Post has made significant gaffes when covering him in the past.
"Last time the WaPo came after me, the paper eventually admitted to fabricating a timeline, retracted or added six full paragraphs, reversed a key claim, and failed to produce evidence of a falsified quotation. Extremely embarrassing for them," Rufo tweeted to accompany a link to a New York Post op-ed he penned detailing his issues with the Washington Post.
"In recent months, outlets including The New York Times, The New Republic, MSNBC, CNN and The Atlantic have relentlessly attacked me. But the coup de grâce, they believed, would be a 3,000-word exposé in The Washington Post. The paper dispatched two reporters, Laura Meckler and Josh Dawsey, and spent three weeks preparing a vicious hit piece against me, accusing me of a range of intellectual crimes," Rufo wrote in 2021.
"Only the Post’s story rested on a bed of lies," he continued. "After the article was published, I went through it line-by-line and made a point-by-point rebuttal on social media and to The Washington Post’s editors. Within 48 hours, the paper’s story had collapsed."
Christopher Rufo is outspoken opponent of CRT being taught in schools. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Indeed, the 2021 Post report headlined, "Republicans, spurred by an unlikely figure, see political promise in targeting critical race theory," by Meckler and Dawsey also featured a significant correction.
"This report has been changed to clarify the sequence of events," the paper wrote beneath a lengthy article. "In addition, the story adds a clarification from the Cupertino superintendent that a lesson was presented once before it was canceled."
The Washington Post did not immediately respond when asked by Fox News Digital why similar mistakes keep happening when the paper’s reporters cover Rufo.
On Sunday, after the Post issued its second correction related directly to Rufo, the CRT critic lampooned the paper.
"I have now forced the Washington Post to retract multiple major claims made against me by the paper's two veteran education reporters, @laurameckler and @valeriestrauss. This is a pattern that suggests a deeper rot at the newspaper," Rufo tweeted. "Democracy dies when the media lies."
The Post did not immediately respond when asked if reporters disagreeing with Rufo’s views have resulted in sloppy reporting.
"Let this serve as a warning to others: if you make false claims against me, I will vigorously defend my reputation and relentlessly attack yours in response. I have a large platform and an aggressive personality—and can force the largest media organizations into submission," Rufo tweeted.
In July, Rufo celebrated on social media when a New York Magazine Intelligencer article that initially misquoted him was corrected.
Rufo was recently appointed by DeSantis to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees. The Republican governor hopes to "shift the university to a classical liberal arts model, restructure the administration and mission statement, create a new core curriculum and academic master plan."
Fox News’ Alexander Hall and Joshua Q. Nelson contributed to this report.
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